MUET
OPEN
LECTURE
13 SEPTEMBER 2019
1
QUESTION 1:
REPORT WRITING
Question 1 – Format
• Title
• Introduction
• Over view
• Body paragraph
• Conclusion
3
4
TITLE
TITLE
REFER TO THE
QUESTION (Title of
visuals)+ (TF)
•Short + simple
•Concise +
straightforward
INTRODUCTION
PARAGRAPH
ONLY 2 SENTENCES
INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
FIRST • Introduce
SENTENCE stimulus/stimuli
• COPY the title(s)
above the
graphs/ tables/
charts
7
SENTENCE ONE:
INTRODUCTION
Introduce the graphs/
charts/ tables/ figures/
newspaper excerpts
Refer to the title of the
graphs/ charts/ tables/
figures and the
gist(information) from
newspaper excerpts
8
ONLY ONE + Title of
VISUAL the
E.g
+ TFgraph/
The graph
shows… chart/
The table table/
shows… figure
The figure
shows…
The stimulus
shows…
Figure 1
shows…
Table 1
shows…
9
•MORE THAN Title of TF
ONE VISUALS the
•E.g graphs/
charts/
Figure 1 tables/
shows… Figures
and Table 1
shows… + ++
respectively
- The figures
show…
- The tables
show…
Just COPY the title AS IT IS
WRITTEN
10
Table 1: Employer’s Expectation and Applicants’
Perceptions of qualities required at the workplace.
Qualities Ranking of Ranking of
qualities qualities
employers look applicants
for in job believe
applicants employers look
for
Communication 1 5
skills
Diligence 2 6
Team-work skills 3 7
Computer literacy 4 3
Personality 5 4
Work ethics 6 8
Qualification 7 1
Motivation 8 9
Experience 9 2
Respect for 10 10
authority
Note: 1 – highest; 10 – lowest 11
Sample
INTRODUCTION
•The table shows
Employer’s Expectation
and Applicants’
Perceptions of qualities
required at the
workplace.
1 STIMULUS
12
13
Compare these
INTRODUCTIONS
1. The figures show Number of
Heart Attack cases among Men
and Women and Activities
Performed by Men and Women
(2011 – 2015) respectively.
2. Figure 1 shows the Number of
Heart Attack cases among Men
and Women (2011 – 2015) and
Figure 2 shows Activities
Performed by Men and Women
(2011 – 2015).
14
Sample 1- MUET
MARCH 2016
Figure 1 – Line Graph
The figures show
Number of Heart Attack
cases among Men and
Women and Activities
Performed by Men and
Women (2011 – 2015)
respectively.
Similar years
Can be
mentioned
ONCE 15
16
Sample 2 – MUET END 2010
Figure 1 – Line graph
The stimuli show
Number of Air Travellers
by Airlines (2003 – 2008)
and Air Travellers’ Rating
of Satisfaction for 2008.
Be careful when different Figure 2 –Bar graph
TIME FRAMES were
given. Both TIME
FRAMES should be in the
Introduction.
17
SECOND • GENERAL
SENTENCE IDEA of the
stimulus
Overview
• COMPARISON
between the
stimuli
• LINK between
the stimuli
• CONNECTION
between the
stimuli
Sentence 2
How to start a
Controlling Idea?
● Generally,...
● Overall,...
19
OVERVIEW (Controlling
idea)
● ONE stimulus
Significant General
trend
Eg:
– Highest/lowest
– Increased/decreased
– Remained const
20
● TWO stimuli
– Significant General
trend
– correlation between
stimuli
● Find the FOCUS by
looking at the
similarities or obvious
differences
● Connect/link the
visuals
21
E.g.
–Highest •…due to…
–Lowest •…correspond
with…
+–Increase •…because of…
•…correlate to…
–Decrease
•…affected by…
•…caused by…
22
Sample OVERVIEW
(Controlling Idea)
• Generally, the number of
heart attack cases among
men and women was
influenced by the activities
performed by them in 2011
– 2015.
Connect the
idea from the first
to the
second visual
23
BODY PARAGRAPH
• KEY PAST
FEATURES TENSE
• TREND
• DATA
• TIME FRAME
ANALYSIS & SYNTHESIS
A = TF + KF + T (D)
First
stimulus
S= (A (TF + KF + T
L(D)) + + (A (TF + KF
+ T (D)) Second
stimulus
25
BODY
1. ANALYSIS =
Key features +
Trend + DATA +
Time Frame
26
•TREND 2. NON-MOVING
TREND
1. MOVING
TREND Ranked first/
ranked 5th
The highest/ The Ranked last
most Rated good(1)/
The lowest/ the rated average
least (2)/ rated
increase/ rose/ satisfied
soared The most/ the
decrease/ least
dipped/ dropped
Fluctuated NO TF or ONLY 1
YEAR
TF – DIFFERENT
2010
2007, 2008,
2009, 2010 Reasons/ factors27
2010 & 2017
RANKING RATING
Placing Preferences
• …ranked the • …rated good (1)
highest (1st) • …rated satisfied (4)
/ranked first/ 1st • Rated poor (3)
• …ranked last • Rated the
• …ranked 2nd least/most (key KF)
• …ranked 4th rated poor 3 out of
• …ranked 7th 10
• …ranked the lowest
(10th)
* Look at the * Look at the
small print rating
specification
28
KEY FEATURES
• The subject
Eg: qualities/reasons/
items/ cases/ genders/
accidents/ services/
visitors/ forest fires/
theft cases
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DATA - FIGURE
• Numbers
• Percentage
• Sales
• hectares
UNIT (DATA)
• Sales in RM
• Number of visitors
• Number of accidents
• Number of reasons /
factors/ actions/
strategies (count the )
30
TIME FRAME
• Weeks
• Months
• Years
As long as it indicates
the time frame
31
CopiesMUET MID 2009 2005
2006
Figure 1: Annual Sales of Southern Book Store (2005 - 2007) 2007
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Month
Copies Figure 2: Sales of Reading Materials in 2007 Best seller
Textbook
16000 Workbook
14000 Magazine
12000
10000 32
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter
Year
SAMPLE ANALYSIS
YEAR KF
TREND
(1) In 2005, sales remained
constant at 2000 copies.
DATA
2) In 2007, sales dropped
from 3000 to 2000 copies
from January to March,
then increased to 8000
copies in August and
remained constant until
December.
33
2. SYNTHESIS
•Comparison of Data /
correlation /
correspond/reasons
34
Use linking words to
signal synthesis
–E.g.:
»While/ whereas/ but/
compared to/
however/ correlates
to/ due to/
corresponds to/
because of/ affected
by/ on the other
hand...
35
BOTH trends are The TRENDS are
the SAME CONTRADICTING
• correlates to • While
• due to • Whereas
• corresponds to • But
• because of • compared to
• affected by • However
• leads to • on the other
• As hand
• Since • Despite
• Thus • even though
• Hence • Yet
• so • although
36
SAMPLE SYNTHESIS
compare
In 2005, sales remained
constant at 2000 copies
but in 2006, sales
fluctuated between 3500
and 5500 copies.
37
MID YEAR 2009
3. The increase in
sales of reading
materials in the
second half of the
year (46 000 copies)
corresponds to the
overall increase of
annual sales in 2007
Compare TWO 38
different stimuli
Figure 1: Amount of Sales of Malaysian
Online Stores (2015 and 2016)
160000 RM140000
140000
Amount of Sales in RM 120000 RM70000 21Street
100000 RM50000 Lazomba
RM50000
80000 39
60000
40000
20000
0
2015 2016
Year
Table 1: Strategies taken to increase
amount of Sales
Lazomba
21Street
Strategy 2015 2016 2015 2016
Allows payment via credit cards
Accepts cash on delivery
Offers variety of items
Presents attractive webpage
Offers e-coupons as discounts
Offers competitive prices
Offers free gifts
Provides fast delivery
40
Figure 1: Amount of Sales of Table 1: Strategies taken to
Malaysian Online Stores (2015 and increase amount of Sales
2016) (2015 and 2016)
TF KF D T L TF KF D T
2015 21Street 50000 Lower Due to 2015 Strategies 3 Lower than
than/ the (21street) *mention
lowest all
strategies
In 2005, the annual sales of
Southern Bookstore remained
Lazoomba 70000 constant at 2000 copies.
Higher Because Strategies 5* Higher than
than/ the of (Lazoomba
highest
)
In 2006, the annual sales of
Southern Bookstore
fluctuated between 3500 and
5500 copies.
2016 21Street 50000 Remained Due to/ 2016 Strategies 3* Remained the
the same because (21street) same
of
Lazoomba 140000 Doubled/ Correlates Strategies 8 * Increased
increased/ to (Lazoomba
)
the highest
Find the connection 41
A
1. In 2015, 21street recorded lower
(50000) amount of sales than A
Lazoomba (70000) due to lower (3)
strategies (‘Accepts cash on delivery’,
‘Presents attractive webpage’, ‘Offers
competitive prices’) than Lazoomba
(5).
S
CONCLUDING
PARAGRAPH
REPHRASE OVERVIEW
(CONTROLLING IDEA
-Rephrase Controlling
Idea (OV)
–In conclusion + OV + TF
–To conclude + OV + TF
44
The Do's
DO:
1)Read and UNDERSTAND
the INSTRUCTIONS
carefully.
2)Present the DATA
accurately based on the
presented stimuli.
The Do's
DO:
3) Present the UNITS –
hectares/copies/percentage/
enrolment/ sales/ amount/
buyers/ numbers/ travelers/
ratings/ranking) with the
DATA
The Do's
DO:
4) Be careful with the small prints
- notes below the non-linear
texts
- notes above the axis
(‘000s/ %/ million/
tonnes/ RM)
The Don’ts’
DO NOT:
1) Exceed the word limit – 200 words ONLY
1) … ‘customer service’ = 1 word
2)… “customer service” = 2 words
3)… (customer service) = 2 words
2)Make assumption
3)Describe
The Don’ts’
DO NOT:
4) List
5) Use conjunction, e.g: and/ ‘followed by’ to
describe data
6) Change the UNIT
7) ADVERBS/ ADJECTIVES
8) EMOTIONS
50